HL Deb 06 November 1997 vol 582 c302WA
Lord Kennet

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Which United Nations bodies have been consulted on, or are participating in, the negotiations on the Multilateral Agreement on Investment.

Lord Clinton-Davis

The OECD Secretariat has reported to UNCTAD (the UN Conference on Trade and Development) on the progress of the negotiations on the MAI.

Lord Kennet

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What public consultation there has been, and with whom, on the Multilateral Agreement on Investment.

Lord Clinton-Davis

Her Majesty's Government have consulted extensively on the MAI, including with the CBI, ICC-UK (International Chambers of Commerce), the TUC, professional bodies, TUAC (Trade Union Advisory Committee) and BIAC (Business and Industry Advisory Committee) (the labour and business representatives at the OECD), and, more recently, non-governmental organisations (including the Catholic Fund for Overseas Development, the Catholic Institute for International Relations, Consumers International, Oxfam, the Environmental Investigation Agency, Friends of the Earth, the World Development Movement and the World Wide Fund for Nature).

Conferences with developing countries have been held in Latin America, Asia and Africa, as well as at the OECD in Paris.